03 MARCH 2015

Adamek Defeats a One Armed Chambers (FULL REPORT)

Chambers Eddie2 training JSanders

Jerry Glick reporting from ringside: In a fight between two former Klitschko victims, Tomasz “Goral” Adamek (Vitali) and “Fast” Eddie Chambers (Wladimir), at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center, televised on NBC Sports, and promoted by Main Events/Peltz Boxing/Ziggy Promotions/GTP, the unexpected happened. Suddenly during the first round Chambers threw a left, hesitated, looked at the bicep on that arm, and was unable to use his left from that point on.

After the fight, at the post fight press conference, Adamek, 225 pounds, claimed that he did not notice that he was fighting a one armed opponent. If that is true, he may have been the only person who didn’t. Chambers, 202 pounds, said that he only used his left to faint Adamek out of position and land the right. Time and time again he did just that. At times it appeared that his “jiggle” prevented Adamek from throwing a punch. It tied him up mentally. Chambers, from Philadelphia, PA, proved to be a tremendous boxer who handled one of the worst disasters that can happen in the ring. He appeared to be the more accurate puncher, if not the busiest. Chambers may have lost some offensive ability, but his injury did not affect his extraordinary defensive skills as Adamek found him to be a difficult target to hit. But the judges were watching a different fight. In the ninth round Adamek began to find his target a little more often and may have earned some rounds down the stretch.

Adamek, 46-2, (28 KOs), had all he could handle while winning a twelve round unanimous decision and the vacant IBF North American Heavyweight Title over a one handed Chambers. Chambers, 36-3 (18 KOs), apparently pulled a muscle in his bicep in the first round and managed to not only survive, but he gave Adamek, who hails from Gilowise, Poland, lots of trouble with his lead rights that rarely missed. First “Fast” Eddie would faint with the left then fire off another right that had the former world light-heavyweight and cruiserweight king’s sweat flying into the cool Prudential Center air. All three judges gave it to the popular Polish heavyweight by scores of 116-112 twice, (Joseph Pasquale and Steve Weisfeld) and 119-109 (Alan Rubenstein) to the delight of his many fans in attendance. Benji Estevez refereed.

The crowd of mostly Polish fans roared each time their hero, Adamek, landed anything. The press row was split, as were many fans, on who won. All considered Chambers put up a brilliant effort, making Adamek miss many of his punches with his slick, elusive style of boxing. Often Chambers went southpaw but most of the time he simply threw lead rights from his orthodox stance. Before his arm went south, Chambers was flicking out his jab in multiples; three, or four at a time. He had to go to plan B (plan Z?) after the injury. Adamek threw more punches, but it was Chambers who had the better connect percentage and clearly landed the cleaner shots.

Bryant “By-By” Jennings, 14-0 (6 KOs), again looked impressive. Last time out in March he stopped ex-WBO champ Siarhei Liakhovich in nine rounds; this time he out fought, out punched, and decked the willing Steve “Freight Train” Collins, 244 pounds, in the fourth frame when a left hook knocked Collins into the ropes. Collins, from Houston, TX, did his best against the unbeaten Jennings who simply had too much skill and speed for him to handle.

Jennings, another Philly fighter, fought a careful, precise fight, mostly using lateral movement and his jab, then charging in when the opportunity presented itself with quick combinations that mostly landed, but not with tremendous power.

Jennings, 225 pounds, won the ten round decision, along with the vacant USBA Heavyweight title with a score of 100-89 across the board. The loss drops Collins’ record to 25-2 (18 KOs). Lindsey Paige refereed.

THE UNDERCARD

Jamaal Davis, 154 ½, Philadelphia, PA, 14-8-1 (6 KOs), did most of the punching against rugged Doel Carrasquillo, 155 ½, Lancaster, PA, 16-20-1 (14 KOs), winning a unanimous eight rounder in what became a televised fight when Curtis Stevens’ opponent dropped off the show due to legal problems and this fight was bumped up to the vacant spot. Carrasquillo did little more than walk in with his guard up, attempting to block punches looking for the big one, but never found it. The judges scored it 78-74 twice and 79-73. Earl Brown refereed.

John Thompson, 155 ½, Newark, NJ, 8-0 (2 KOs), proved to be too fast for John Mackey, 155 ½, Washington, DC, 13-7-3 (6 KOs), using lateral movement and tossing looping punches from long range to win the votes of all three judges, 59-55 twice and 58-56. Mackey didn’t start to land very much until the final two rounds. Eddie Cotton refereed.

After a raucous first round during which Patrick Farrell, 209 ½, Jersey City, NJ, 7-1-1 (3 KOs), and David Williams, 227 ½, Philadelphia, PA, 6-6-1 (2 KOs), each were staggered. Farrell came out fast and landed a left hook that had Williams in trouble. When the Jersey City battler went for the knockout he was himself caught by a right that him on rubbery legs. In the next stanza Farrell was hurt by a Williams’ combination but fired back dropping him. Williams had a weak defense and Farrell had him in trouble again in the fourth and final round. Farrell won a unanimous decision with scores of 40-35 twice and 39-36. Brown refereed.

Hot prospect Jose “Mangu” Peralta, 140, Jersey City, NJ, 9-1 (5 KOs), originally from the Dominican Republic, was too strong and too skilled for Dontre King, 142, Cambridge, MD, 6-11-2 (2 KOs), stopping him in the fourth round of six. Peralta never stopped pressing; throwing punches effectively to the head and body. The third was the beginning of the end for King. First an uppercut to the chin had him hurt followed by a right that had him down. King was throwing arm punches which had little effect on Peralta. In the fourth, Peralta began to break him down, when a four punch combination decked King again prompting referee Cotton to call it off at 2:28 of the round.

Another prospect, Tureano Johnson, 161 ½, Nassau, Bahamas, 9-0 (6 KOs), who competed in the 2008 Olympics, out fought Roberto Yong, 162, Sacramento, CA, 5-5-1 (4 KOs), to win a six round unanimous decision with a score of 58-56 from all three judges. Johnson landed three hard, quick rights to the head when they were working up close in round four and again in the six and last frame. Brown was again the third man in the ring.

***PUNCHLINES***

**POST FIGHT PRESS CONFERENCE**

*Tomasz “Goral” Adamek*

“He was sneaky, but I won the fight. I’m very happy,” said Adamek. “It was very close.” Asked when he realized that Chambers was injured Adamek said, “I didn’t know. Somebody told me; I have had to fight with a broken nose. When you get into the ring you have to be ready for everything.”

*”Fast” Eddie Chambers*

“I tried to hook off the jab, but his big arm was in the way,” said Chambers in explaining how he was injured. He was a very light 202 pounds; did he think about becoming a cruiserweight? “Possibly, but I feel so good in this division. I don’t feel that I have to go down, but I would like to. I could grab a belt there and come back up.”

And what would have happened if he had two hands to fight with? “It would have been extraordinarily one sided.”